01/04/2013

A Journey to the Oort Cloud, Where Comets Are Born

16:40 minutes

The comet ISON, discovered by two amateur astronomers last year, will zoom past the Earth next fall. But where did it come from? Astronomer Andrew Fraknoi says a passing star could have flung the comet our way from the Oort Cloud, a distant realm of ice chunks at the outer limits of the solar system.

Segment Guests

Andrew Fraknoi

Andrew Fraknoi is chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College in Los Altos, California.

Meet the Producer

About Christopher Intagliata

Christopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.